Check notcher



Feb. 19, 1929.

I C. A. ERICKSON CHECK NOTCHER Filed Jan. 11, 1928 Patented Feb. '19, 19 29 GHAREES A EBIGKSQN', 0F meee lee-Isms! emes filed Jamal-$ 11, i928. seem a). erases.

My invention relates to devi'ces for notchin qan edge portionoi' a rupturableLmaterial, I as torexample a chargendicatingedge por-;

tion of a sales check oftjhe class commonly used in lunch rooms andrestaurants.

In its general objects, my invention LlEllS to provide a notching d'evice of this class in which the casing and the notching member are each iermedof sheet material and slida bly interfit each other; in which these two parts are 'shaped to prevent rotation oi -the notching member in thecasing, and also are shaped forprodueinga relatively long and narrow notch in asales checkor the like; and in which these two parts have integral portions disposed for operatively retaining-1a speedy and inexpensive manufacture and a sembly of the device, which Wlll facil tate,

the ejecting of the checkportions severed by the device, and which .will permit the ready removal of such detached portions ;or c lip pings in case they should enter the bore of the notching member. y I tion aims to provide a. notching devlce .111

whichthe ,casing nember can readily-be made of a metal which-is suitable for the body (and desirably also for the resilientpadlocking tongue) of a combined check-holder and ,Iiotchenthereby adapting niy'notching device for the combination device .inore fully disclosed as to its other :l"eaturesin my copending application No. 245,865 011 a sales chcckholder, filed January 11, 1928.

More, particuiarly,.my invention prov-ides a cheek-notcher casing'iormed bysuitably rolli'ng up a previously perforated sheet ,metal Strip to afford, a tubular casing'of a suitable and 1 preferably non-circular) transverse section and irovides inte 'ral ortions which interlock to retain the casing in its said sectional shape Italso provides a notohing this'pnrposefthe original sheet metal blankmember so formed of a single strip of sheet metal as to slidably. and non-rot'atably lit such a casing, and provided .with an'inte'gral headwhereby the notching member mav' he slid in one direction inthe casing. 'Furthermore, my 1nvent1onpr0v1'des ntegral means on the casing for engaging one end of a spring which has its other endengaging a part of the'notching member (desirably the head of .th lat er fQ e r c n fill -Di em a the. casin same scale as ,Figlli i c 7 Fig. 4- is an enlarged view, looking;upward from the bottom o i Fig. l. 1 Moreover, my inven-,

' tion.

' spec'tivo view of th e blank provides the netc'hing member and the cas;

ing' with interengageable portions "disposed for limiting the movement of tlie notching of the exit opening hrough which t eseverck-l check portions or clippings are detached from in whioh'these severedportions are deterred from entering the bore of the notchmg member, and-in which the notching 7 member normally presents-"an opening disposed for inserting a pin orothe1" "i 11sti'ument ior c earing the bore oi the note/hingmember- Still further and also more detailedlob ject's will appear from the 'iollow-ing .speoification and from the accompanying drawing, H] which i Fig. 11s a front elevation oi'the lower porf tion of a combined salescheck holderand notcher whichincludesan embodiment of my invention. i f v "Fig. 2 is an enlarged end elevation, taken from the left si ,eof'Fig. 1. I i

Fig. 3 is arear elevaton, drawn the Fig. '5 is an enlarged vertical section taken along the line 55 ofl 1g. 2, with the notch 111g member in its normal or retracted posi- Fi'g. is an enlargedperspectiveview Off the note-h ing n'ieinher.

l -i 'g 'iis a coi-responglinglyzenlarged. perroni I which vthe notehing'member rth ig. ('3 wasrlorined.

Fig.8 a plan if thezblauk iromiwhich the notchercasing member of Figs.- 1 to .15 .was formed. I l i In the illustrated embodiment, Figs. show portions of a combined sales check holdor and notcher, of thetype describe'dsin my lto l' said copending application, n whichithe pad" of checks 1 rests O11 a'llOltleliPOITtlOlIi-ZlSVhlCll "oi-med of thesame strip of sheet material 11 the cas ng of my .notoliing device. For

in -lu'desas an extension of the holder portion 2- the series ot metal partsfor whichzt'he rem lines are in dicated by dotted linesinl '8, in

which figure the line A denotes a'lowerfend which includes afront" side ii, forwardly and rearwardly inclined sides t anclbtli'sposed at an acute angle; to each other 'an'd-adj'oinel on ,lap as shown in Fig. 2

over the edges of the holder section 8.

' of the casin The notching member is formed from a blank shaped. as in Fi 7, so that when tolded approxin'iately along the dotted lines ot this figure, the blank will form a tube having a front 10 adjoined to a back 11 at an acute angle, a top 12, and a head 13 bent from one end oi the back 11 to overhang the adjacent on d of the front 10. The ends of the back and front which are directed away from this head have portions 12 oblique to the bend line D at which these notcher walls are connected in an acute angled formation, the slope of the ends 12 being here shown as corresponding to that of the walls of the aperture 26 beyond which the notcher is normally retracted.

To retract the notcher, I provide a compression spring 23 which extends through the bore of the tubular notching member and through that end portion of the casing toward which the sloping ends 12 of the notching member face. This spring bears at its other end against asuitable thrust formation on the casing, here shown asv a thrust arm 1% bent inwardly from the adjacent endot the back The bore of the notcher only needs to be slightly larger than the diameter of the spring in the direction in which the top 12 of the notcher extends, but is considerably wider (in the general direction of the front 10 and back 11) so that the lower end of the spring if adjacent to the top 7 of the casing will be spaced by a considerable distance from the acute edge of the casing through which the notch 6 extends. To permit. such an approach to the top of the casing, l preterably have the top 12 of the notching member extend only for part of the length oi? this member from its head. Then I provide the arm 14 at its inner end with a guard finger 15 which extends between the spring and the acute or wedge-shaped edge of the casing to keep that end of the spring away from the said acute edge. By doing this, I leave a clear end opening (as shown in Fig. 2) for the ejection of the check portions or clippings severed by the notcher.

I also provide means for limiting the extent to which thenotching member is slid away from the thrust arm 1 such as a stop fingerlG formed on the end or thefront casing; side 4- which is nearest the head of the notcher, this linger being bent inwardly of the casing so as to be engaged by the inner end aromas of a recess 17 in the adjacent side 10 of the notching member. This recessis so proportioned to the length of the notching member, the location of the lateral notch or aperture 26, and the length of the spring, that the oblique ends of the notching member (which form cutting edges) by the spring beyond in Fig. 5.

In using my notching device, the selected edge portion of the detached check is inserted in the aperture 26 which forms a lateral open notch in the casing, and the notching memher is slid against the resistance ot the sprin g, thereby causing edges of the said aperture to cooperate with the ends oi thesides 10 and 11 of the notching member to shearout a triangular edge portion of the check. The upper ends of the aperture 26 are preferably spaced farther from. the top oi? the notcher casing than the guard finger 1, so that the severed check portion is smaller than the triangular end opening adjacent to this guard finger,

and the converging edge parts of the severed check portion have the cuttingedges or the notching member engaging them. Consequently, the operating movement of the are normally retracted the aperture 6, as shown notching member first cuts out a small edge portion of the check and then forces this check clipping between the guard finger 15 and the acute edge of the bore of the casing, and the successively superposed cheolr'clippings :torce one another out of the casing. However, in case an improper manipulation of my device should cause any detached check clippings to enter the bore of the notching member, these can easily be ejected by inserting a pin or the'like through the normally exposed aperture iormed between the head 13 and the adjacent end of the casing by the notch 17. Hence this notch aiiords the double purpose of: permitting the stop finger 16 to be effectively disposed and of facilitating the removal of check clippings in case such clippings should enter the bore of the notching men'iber.

Since the stop linger 16 can readily be bent inwardly to its operative position after the spring and the major portion of the n'otching member have been inserted into the casing, the entire assembling of my device is exceed ingly simple. The use of single-piece blanks for the casing and for the notching member also eliminates the need oi any'auxiliary fastening members, so that the entire cost of my device is quite low.

Tn employing my notching device on a check holder, I desirably dispose it with the wedge-shaped and apertured edge directed away from the main portion ofthe holder, as shown in Figs. 1 to 3. However, I do not wish to be limited in this respect, norto the i'nounting of my device on a holder which supports the materials that are to be notched by it. Neither do I wish to be limited to the details of construction and arrangement which I have described in connection with an illustrative embodiment oi": my invention, since many changes might obviously be made without departing either from the spirit of the casing having an inwardly directed projection at the opp ositeend from that adjacent to the said recess a (20111- resslon s 31-111 interposed between the said projection and the notching member, and afinger on the housing projecting into the recess and normally engaging an edge of the recess to limit the slidot the notching member by the spring. 2. A check notcher comprising a tubular casing having a not-chin one side and having inwardly directed fingers above and below the said notch, 21 notching men'iber'slidable in the casing and having an aperture into which the upper fin er extends, and a compression spring interposedbetween the lower finger and the notchlng member.

S. A check notcher comprising a tubular casing having a notch in one side and having inwardly directed fingers above and below the said notch, a notching member shdable in i the casingand' having a recess into which the upper finger extends, and a COHlPIQSSlOIl 7 spring interposed between the lower finger and the notcher' the lower fin er bein of such a sizeas to expose an end opening of the casing in longitudinal alinement with the said notclnand the lower finger being formed for holding the lower end ofthe spring clear of the opening tl'iusexposed. I

4. Achecl; notchmg device comprising a tubular casing of polygonal bore sectionpresenting a sharp angle between twoadjacent sides and having a lateral notch extending across the said angle adjacent to. one end of the casing, the casing having atthe said end,

a finger extending toward the apex of thesaid angle from the opposite side or the casing, tubular notch ng member shdably fitting the bore of the casing and having a freely open 'er the notchin' member havins a head clos- 1: 7 C1 i 0 ing its otherend'; and acompression spring interposed "between the finger and the sale head; the finger terminating at a distance r from the apex of the said angle. to leave a clear space tor theexit of clippings sheared by the notchlng member from checks lnserted 1n the said notch from theexterior or the easing. I

5. A check note-hing device as per claim 4,

in which thefinger has at its free end a finger extending toward the said head of the notching device and extending between the spring and the apex of the said angle to retain the spring on the finger.

Signed "at Chicago, Illinois, January 7, 1928. i

CHARLES 7A7. ERICKSON,

end adapted to slide freely over the'saidffinf 

